


seems to be the goal of everyone

by andfinallywearehome



Series: if you wait [2]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: F/F, blink-and-you-miss-it lucas/farkle, brief mention of cory and topanga being cute, girl meets world of terror 3, gmwot3!rilaya, lucas is also here wearing his stupid hat for like 5 seconds lmao, soulmate!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-22
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-26 12:57:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14402595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andfinallywearehome/pseuds/andfinallywearehome
Summary: Riley cares about colours. Of course she does.[or: the one from riley's perspective.]





	seems to be the goal of everyone

**Author's Note:**

> well, here's the second half of this little series. basically just riley's perspective from 'and to find just one other'.
> 
>  
> 
> title comes from the song 'If You Wait' by london grammar and i own nothing recognisable.

Riley cares about colours. Of course she does.

  
Perhaps it comes from having Cory and Topanga as her parents; she is the offspring of America’s greatest sweethearts, the kids who fell in love with their soulmate before they even knew that soulmates were a thing. Her parents are the poster children for soulmates. Naturally, it would be in her best interest to care.

  
She doesn’t know many people in their school who have found their soulmate already; Lucas is already a year older than them, even if he is in their grade, but he doesn’t like sharing personal details and so Riley hasn’t asked. She has caught him staring wistfully after that Farkle kid in their class more than once, however, so perhaps his soulmate isn’t as far away as she thinks hers might be.

  
That’s her biggest fear when it comes to soulmates - because, yeah, her parents were ( _are_ ) lucky, but that doesn’t mean that luck automatically extends to her.

  
What if she never gets to know the person meant for her?

  
\-- x --

  
Call it a character flaw, but Riley sees the best in people, even people like Maya Hart.

  
“Morning, Maya,” she says as she arrives at her locker, the same as every other morning, and she waits for the insult to be thrown her way, but it never comes.

  
Because Maya Hart is staring at her like she’s seeing the sun for the first time and doesn’t know how to process this.

  
“Maya?” She says, slowly, hesitantly. In all the years she has known Maya, grown up in the same neighbourhood as her, she has never seen this kind of - for lack of a better word - _panic_ on her face.

  
“I have to go,” she says, and Riley wonders, for a brief moment, if the other girl is about to pass out in front of her, but Maya is already slamming her locker and speed-walking away before Riley can even form the words _are you okay?_.

  
\-- x --

  
It’s the end of their fourth period biology class. Riley is taking down notes, detailing the assignment in her journal, when a shadow falls across the page. She glances up, and low and behold, it’s the the last person she expects to see: Maya Hart.

  
“Matthews,” she says gruffly, sliding into the seat beside her.

  
“Maya?” Riley looks her up and down, apprehensive, waiting for the insults to be thrown at her. “What are you doing?”

  
“What does it look like, you strange duck?” She says bitingly ( _ah,_ Riley thinks, _there are the insults_ ), and then she clears her throat, as if trying to reign herself in. _Don’t overexert yourself_ , Riley nearly says; she has to bite the inside of her lip to keep the words from spilling out.

  
“We’re gonna be partners on this assignment,” Maya continues, because apparently it’s already been decided.

  
Riley raises an eyebrow. “Is it because you know you’re going to make me do your homework for you anyway?”

  
“ _No._ Of course not.”

  
For _some_ reason, Riley doesn’t believe her.

  
“What if I don’t want to be your partner?”

  
“You got someone else in mind, Matthews? I don’t see anyone lining up around here.”

  
As she speaks, the bell for the end of period sounds; students begin to pack up their books and file out of the room, not paying the two girls in the corner any attention. It’s proving Maya’s point exactly, that no one else wants to be partners on this project with _strange duck_ Riley Matthews, and do you know what? Riley really, _really_ doesn’t need this.

  
“You know, if you want to be my partner, you really need to stop insulting me,” she says, and then grabs her journal and walks out of the room before Maya can answer back.

  
\-- x --

  
She’s studying in a quiet corner of the cafeteria when she hears the footsteps approach her.

  
“I’m sorry.”

  
Riley glances up; Maya is stood in front of her, hands in her pockets, and she actually looks regretful for once. Even if it’s nice to know that the girl can feel regret for the things she says, Riley doesn’t like that look on her face; Maya’s face is too pretty for expressions like regret.

  
“You’re...you’re sorry?”

  
“Yeah.” Maya scuffs her shoes along the ground, and then, after a moment, sits down. “I’m sorry I’m always such a jerk. Would you believe me if I said I didn’t mean to be?” She takes one look at Riley’s face, and then looks away again, snorting humourlessly. “Yeah, thought not. But I _am_ sorry.”

  
This could be a trap. It could very well be a trap, and she knows this, but Maya seems genuine, at least, and who is Riley to not give her the benefit of the doubt? Besides, despite everything, Maya Hart doesn’t seem like the type that would go this far for a joke at Riley Matthews’ expense. She’s not that kind of person. She’s _not._

  
“Apology accepted, Maya.” And then, because she just has to know: “Were you serious about wanting to be my biology partner?”

  
Maya’s lips quirk up into a wry smile. “If you’ll have me, Matthews.”

  
“Of course!” Riley says immediately, and smiles along with her. “We got this, peaches.”

  
“Okay, first things first: no pet names. I’m makin’ that a rule right now.”

  
Riley grins. _Rules are made to be broken_.

  
\-- x --

  
Riley ponders over how on earth she’s going to introduce Maya to her parents. Cory and Topanga are soulmates in every sense of the word: they tell each other everything, so there is no doubt that Cory would have told his wife about Maya, and how she and their daughter haven’t exactly been the best of friends over the years. She’s not sure how Topanga will react to having that same girl in her house, sitting at the table with her husband and her daughter, making polite conversation about school over dinner. Riley almost laughs out loud to herself at that mental image. She doesn’t consider herself enough of a friend in Maya’s eyes for the girl to want to play nice and engage in this _polite conversation_.

  
Her question is soon answered, however, when her window suddenly slides open and Maya Hart climbs in.

  
“Matthews,” she greets, casual, as if entering through windows is normal for her.

  
“Hi.” Riley raises an eyebrow at the girl next to her, a little amused. “I would’ve let you in the front door.”

  
“Front doors are overrated,” Maya says dryly, and Riley chuckles, despite herself, because Maya has a good heart, under it all, she can feel it.

  
\-- x --

  
“Do you ever wonder who your soulmate is, peaches?”

  
Maya’s head snaps up, away from her biology text book, so fast Riley can almost hear it crack. “What?”

  
“I just -” She hesitates; maybe this is too personal for them. She considers Maya a friend, maybe even something a little bit more than that now that she’s seen her true colours over the past month, but that doesn’t mean that Maya herself feels the same way. “I just think about it sometimes, that’s all. Who I’m destined to be with.”

  
Maya is silent for a moment. Then: “Can’t say I really give that much thought to it.”

  
“I just hope I’m with someone who cares about me. You know, the way my mom and dad care about each other. That deep bond that can’t be broken.”

  
Maya nods slowly; she’s seen Cory and Topanga together, she knows what Riley means.

  
“I’m sure you’ll find it, Matthews,” she says, and there’s something in her voice that screams _private backstory_.

Riley knows better than to push her on it.

  
\-- x --

  
“Riles?” They’re studying in the library when Lucas breaks the silence between them. “Can I talk to you about something?”

  
“Of course,” Riley says. Lucas only ever talks when there’s something important. “You can talk to me about anything. What’s up?”

  
“Just - well, you’ve been hanging out with Maya Hart a lot.”

  
That surprises her; of course Lucas is aware of Maya Hart, because _everyone_ is aware of Maya Hart, but he’s never shown any interest in her before.

  
“Yeah, she’s my biology partner. What’s wrong with that?”

  
“Nothing,” Lucas says, even though there clearly is something wrong or he wouldn’t be bringing it up, and he must know that she doesn’t believe him, not even for a second, because he suddenly sighs. “I just don’t see why you would suddenly give her the time of day when she’s been nothing but a nightmare.”

  
Riley bites her lip to quell the urge to shout as she leaps to Maya’s defense, and then tries not to snap when she actually answers. “She’s better than she wants people to believe, Lucas. You just have to take the time to get to know her.”

  
“To get to know her? Riley --”

  
She interrupts before he can make his point. “I get it, Lucas. You want to look out for me, and I really appreciate it, but I don’t need protecting on this one, not from Maya.”

  
Lucas still looks unconvinced, but he nods after a moment, and leans back in his chair, subtly adjusting his hat.

  
“Okay. I trust you. But you be careful, Riley. Right now you’re like a defenceless sheep, and I’d hate to see you get eaten.”

  
Riley shakes her head as Lucas goes back to his book, and pushes the thoughts from her mind. Lucas uses this metaphor a lot - wolves and sheep - when he wants to prove a point, but that’s the thing: Riley isn’t a sheep, she’s a duck. She’s a strange duck. More than that, she’s _Maya’s_ strange duck, even if Maya will never be hers.

  
Even when they’re sitting in her mom’s coffee house, teasing each other like they’ve been friends for years instead of a handful of weeks, and all Riley wants is to lean over and kiss that smile on her lips.

  
God, if she’d have known having a crush on a girl is exactly like the movies told her, maybe she would have tried harder to avoid it.

  
“You love what I’m wearing,” Riley is saying, in response to a comment from the crush in question, “and we both know it.”

  
“Don’t flatter yourself, Matthews,” Maya snorts, and there’s that beautiful smirk that Riley has come to love. “Blue was never your colour.”

  
Suddenly, it feels like the air has been knocked out of her lungs. “What?”

  
“What?” Maya looks -- Maya looks like she’s worried that she’s _offended_ her. “I -- Hey, c’mon, Matthews, I jut said that blue wasn’t your --”

  
Suddenly, she stops, and her eyes widen in sheer, unfiltered panic.

  
How could she know what blue looks like, unless --

  
Riley tries to form a coherent sentence. “Maya, you -- You can see colours?”

  
Maya says nothing; she just looks at Riley for one terrified, panicked moment, and then flees.

  
\-- x --

  
All of the opening lines Riley has prepared beforehand leave her mind when she drops down into the room and sees the ball of Maya Hart curled up on the bed, tumbling blonde hair a mess, as if she’s run her hands through it several times, blanket nearly covering her entire face.

  
“Hey,” she says, all that she can manage.

  
“How d’you find where I live?” Maya asks and her tone is soft and cautious; for once, she is not as tough as everyone thinks she is.

  
Riley takes this as an invitation to come closer. “Maya. We’ve lived in the same neighbourhood since we were little kids. I’ve always known where you live.”

  
“Creep,” Maya says, but there is no malice in her voice.

  
“Says the girl who comes through _my_ window.” A pause. Then: “How long?”

  
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  
“I think you do. How long?”

  
“A couple of months. Maybe less.”

  
A couple of months. Riley thinks back, putting the dates together in her head. Oh.

  
“Around the time we became friends,” she realises aloud. She’s been oblivious, all this time.

  
“Yeah. Sorry.”

  
This catches Riley off guard. “Why are you sorry?”

  
“Aren’t you gonna get all high and mighty and say I lied to you or betrayed your trust or something?”

  
“Why would I do that?”

  
“I don’t know. I just -- Everybody wants to find their soulmate, right? And you always got this face whenever you talked about it - wistful and sad and longing - and I -- I didn’t want to crush your dreams.” Maya ducks her head even further, and Riley has to fight the urge to just gather her up in her arms and hold her, just so she doesn’t have to feel her own heart break at the sight of her soulmate, _her Maya_. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed when you found out that you had a soulmate like me.”

  
“Maya.” Her voice is thick with the tears she’s trying to hold back, and this time Riley gives in to the urge; she reaches for Maya and lifts her chin up and kisses her, trying to tell her everything she can’t formulate into words, the feelings she’s been mulling over these last few weeks.

  
“Wow,” Maya says when they part, and her voice is breathless and _beautiful_.

  
“Yeah,” Riley echoes, as she grabs Maya’s hand and holds it tight, like nothing could ever make her let go. “Wow.”


End file.
